West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia.
It is in the northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey (Ağrı, Hakkâri, Iğdır and Van Provinces), Iraq (Erbil and Sulaymaniyah Governorates) and Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, as well as the Iranian provinces of East Azerbaijan, Zanjan, and Kurdistan. West Azerbaijan province is part of Region 3. It forms parts of the areas unofficially known as Iranian Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. It is separated from Armenia by Turkey's short border with the Azerbaijan Republic. The province covers an area of 39,487 km2, or 43,660 km2 including Lake Urmia.
History
The major known ancient civilization in the region was that of Mannaeans, a buffer state between Urartian and Assyrian sphere of influence. Mannaeans in turn spoke a language related to Urartian. After the fall of Assyria, the region was known as Mantiene (or Matiene) in Greek sources. Matiene bordered on Atropatene situated east of Lake Urmia.
The region is known as Vaspurakan and Nor Shirakan in Armenian history and made up an important part of historical Armenia, functioning as one of the cradles of Armenian civilisation. On 26 May 451 AD, a very important battle was fought that would prove pivotal in Armenian history. On the Avarayr Plain, at what is modern-day Churs in West Azerbaijan province, the Armenian army under Vardan Mamikonian clashed with the Sasanian one. Although the Persians were victorious on the battlefield itself, the battle proved to be a major strategic victory for Armenians, as Avarayr paved the way to the Nvarsak Treaty (484 AD), which affirmed Armenia's right to practice Christianity freely.
In the late 4th century AD the Sasanians incorporated the area into the neighbouring Adhurpadagan satrapy to the east.Richard G. Hovannisian, 2004, The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century, Palgrave Macmillan, , , p. 92 The name Adhurpadagan, later Arabicized to Azerbaijan, derives from Atropates,Encyclopædia Iranica, "Azerbaijan: Pre-Islamic History", K. Shippmann an Iranian satrap of Media under the Achaemenid Empire, who later was reinstated as the satrap of Media under Alexander of Macedonia.Historical Dictionary of Azerbaijan by Tadeusz Swietochowski and Brian C. Collins. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland (1999), (retrieved 7 June 2006)
In the 7th century this area was under Islamic rule. After Babak Khorramdin revolted, the grip of the Abbasid Caliphate weakened, allowing some native dynasties to rise. By the first half of the 11th century, the Byzantine emperors were actively trying to round off their eastern territories, in an attempt to absorb the unstable Armenian dynasties. In 1021–1022, emperor Basil II led his army as far as Khoy within 175 km of Dvin, and obtained the surrender of royalty from the Artsruni dynasty of Van.Minorsky, Vladimir (1953) Studies in Caucasian History I. New Light on the Shaddadids of Ganja II. The Shaddadids of Ani III. Prehistory of Saladin page 52, CUP Archive, 1 jan. 1953 The Seljuk Turkic tribes, who the local Hadhabani Kurds initially resisted, eventually conquered the region in the 11th and early 12th centuries. During Timurid rule in the 14th century, Khoy gained an important role in the region.
After Hadhabanis, three other Kurdish principalities, Mukriyans in the southern part, Bradosti in the middle, and Donboli in the northern part ruled the region for centuries, who temporarily sided with either the Ottomans or the Safavids. The Siege of Dimdim between the Safavids and local Bradosti Kurds took place in this region. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg Ordubadi, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, the Castle of Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were killed and Shah Abbas I ordered a general massacre in Bradost and Mukriyan (reported by Eskandar Beg, Safavid historian in the book Alam Aray-e Abbasi) and resettled the Afshar tribe in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes to the Khorasan region, where many of their descendants still reside as of today.
The Safavid control was firmly restored by Shah Abbas but during the Afghan invasion (1722–1728) more than a century later, the Ottomans captured the northwestern regions of Iran, until Nader Shah expelled them and reasserted Iranian suzerainty over the region and far beyond. The Russian (Tsarist) army occupied the region in 1909, and again in 1912–1914 and 1915–1918 period. The Ottomans occupied the region in 1914–1915 and 1918–1919 periods. The Soviet forces occupied the region in 1941, resulting in the establishment of a short-lived, Soviet-supported puppet state called the Republic of Mahabad, from November 1945 to November 1946.
The districts of Maku, Khoy, Salmas, and Arasbaran, and the region of Urmia, according to 19th-century administrative division became a part of the northwestern Iranian province of Azerbaijan.Ehsan Yar-Shater, 1982, Encyclopaedia Iranica: publisher: Routledge & Kegan Paul, University of California, Volume 2, Issues 5-8, p. 476 In 1937, the province was renamed to Shomal-e gharb (Northwestern Province). Shortly after it the province of Azerbaijan was divided into a western and eastern part which were renamed to Chaharom (Fourth Province) and sevom (Third Province), respectively. In 1961, Fourth province was renamed West Azerbaijan by the Iranian authorities.
Some events in the 19th and 20th centuries are: Shaikh Ubeidullah Attacks, west and south of Lake Urmia in 1880;The Kurdish Question, by W. G. Elphinston, Journal of International Affairs, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946, p.94 Simko Insurrections, west of Lake Urmia from 1918 to 1922;The Kurdish Question, by W. G. Elphinston, Journal of International Affairs, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1946, p.97 The Soviet occupation in 1944; The foundation and destruction of the Azerbaijan People's Government in 1945–1946; The foundation and destruction of the Republic of Mahabad in 1946 in County of Mahabad; Periodic severe fighting from 1979 until the 1990s near to boundaries of Iraq-Iran between Kurdish militia belonging to Kurdish political parties and the Iranian government. During the early 1980s parts of the province were outside central government's control.
Zoroaster claim Some Muslim researchersBalādâorī and Ebn Kordādâbeh have proclaimed that the birth of the prophet Zoroaster was in this area, in the vicinity of Lake Orumieh, Chichest or Ganzak; recent scholarship, however, indicates that sites in Central Asia are more likely."As a matter of fact, only untrustworthy and late traditions place Zoroaster's birthplace at Urmia." Tarbiyat, Muḥammad Ali (1935) Dānishmandān-i Āzarbayjān Tehran, p. 162, reissued in 1999,
Demographics Language and ethnicity There are no official statistics on the ethnic or linguistic makeup of Western Azerbaijan. Most of the population of the province consists of Azerbaijanis and Kurds, with smaller populations of Armenians, Assyrians, and Jews. On the question of linguistic majority of the province, linguist Anonby argued in 2019 that:
Distribution The counties of Bukan, Mahabad, Oshnavieh, Piranshahr and Sardasht are populated by Kurds, while Chaldoran, Maku, Miandoab, Naqadeh, Salmas and Takab have a mixed population of both Azerbaijanis and Kurds. Salmas moreover has a Christian minority.
Population
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the province's population was 2,831,779 people in 655,260 households. The following census in 2011 counted 3,080,576 inhabitants in 822,152 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the province as 3,265,219 in 935,956 households.
Administrative divisions
The population history and structural changes of West Azerbaijan province's administrative divisions over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
+ West Azerbaijan Province Counties 2006 2011 2016 Baruq — — — Bukan 202,637 224,628 251,409 Chaharborj — — — Chaldoran 44,572 46,398 45,060 Chaypareh — 43,206 47,292 Khoy 365,573 354,309 348,664 Mahabad 197,441 215,529 236,849 Maku 174,578 88,863 94,751 Miandoab 245,153 260,628 273,949 Mirabad — — — Naqadeh 117,831 121,602 127,671 Oshnavieh 63,798 70,030 73,886 Piranshahr 107,677 123,639 138,864 Poldasht — 42,071 42,170 Salmas 180,708 192,591 196,546 Sardasht 104,146 111,590 118,849 Shahin Dezh 89,356 91,113 92,456 Showt — 52,519 55,682 Takab 81,395 78,122 80,556 Urmia 856,914 963,738 1,040,565 Total 2,831,779 3,080,576 3,265,219
Cities
According to the 2016 census, 2,136,203 people (over 65% of the population of West Azerbaijan province) live in the following cities:
City Population Avajiq 1,663 Baruq 4,225 Bazargan 9,979 Bukan 193,501 Chahar Borj 9,406 Dizaj Diz 8,282 Firuraq 9,190 Gerd Kashaneh 4,201 Ivughli 3,320 Keshavarz 4,138 Khalifan 749 Khoy 198,845 Mahabad 168,393 Mahmudabad 6,866 Maku 46,581 Marganlar 2,294 Miandoab 134,425 Mirabad 6,000 Mohammadyar 9,313 Nalus 2,973 Naqadeh 81,598 Nazok-e Olya 2,667 Nushin 8,380 Oshnavieh 39,801 Piranshahr 91,515 Poldasht 11,472 Qarah Zia od Din 26,767 Qatur 5,147 Qushchi 2,787 Rabat 15,750 Salmas 92,811 Sardasht 46,412 Serow 1,800 Shahin Dezh 43,131 Showt 25,381 Siah Cheshmeh 17,804 Silvaneh 1,614 Simmineh 1,345 Takab 49,677 Tazeh Shahr 8,629 Urmia 736,224 Zurabad 1,147
Cities and larger towns Rank City Population(2016) 1 Urmia 736,224 2 Khoy 198,845 3 Bukan 193,501 4 Mahabad 168,393 5 Miandoab 134,425 6 Salmas 92,811 7 Piranshahr 91,515 8 Naqadeh 81,598 9 Takab 49,677 10 Maku 46,581 11 Sardasht 46,412 12 Shahin Dezh 43,131 13 Oshnavieh 39,801 14 Qarah Zia od Din 26,767 15 Showt 25,381
Geography Location With an area of 43,660 square kilometers, including Lake Urmia, the province of West Azerbaijan is located on the northwest of Iran.
Climate Cold northern winds affect the province during winter and cause heavy snow. According to existing meteorological data, local temperatures vary within the province. Average temperature differs from 9.4 °C in Piranshahr to 11.6 °C in Mahabad, while it is 9.8 °C in Urmia, 10.8 °C in Khoy, 9.4 °C in Piranshahr, and in Mahabad 11.6 °C. According to the same data, the highest temperature in the province reaches 34 °C in July, and the lowest temperature is –16 °C in January. The maximum change of temperature in summer is 4 °C and in winter 15 °C.Introduction a-gharbi.rmto.ir
Archaeology